Meetings in the Dark
by luvin-benadam
Summary: She needed this meeting tonight, there was something of the utmost importance she needed to tell him. But she never gets the chance. Because when Archie bails on Betty at the last minute, the Black Hood sees his opportunity and takes her.
1. Chapter 1

" _Can we talk?"_

The text blinked up at him in anticipation, patiently demanding an instant response.

" _Sure, what's up?"_ he replied, hoping it was nothing too serious.

" _Not over text,"_ came her answer. _"Can I come over tonight?"_

His stomach knotted and he tried to make sense of the sudden, foreign feeling. _"Of course. Come at 6, my dad will be out."_

Archie continued to stare at the phone, waiting for the reply she would always send back. Instead he was left waiting, concern pricking inside his gut and telling him something was wrong. It was unlike Betty to be so cryptic. He placed the phone down on the counter and picked up where he left off before the ping of his phone, filling Vegas' dog dish with tap water then stripping off his dirty clothes and heading to the laundry room.

He had less than an hour to tidy get cleaned up before Betty came over to talk about whatever was on her mind, and Archie couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. As he pulled a wet load from the washer and tossed it into the dryer, the familiar buzz of his phone against the counter sounded.

"Ronnie" with a picture of her smiling face looked back at him.

"Hey, Ronnie. What's up?"

"Archie, I need you to come meet me at Pop's right away."

Instantly the urgency in her voice caught his attention and set him on high alert. "Is everything okay?" he asked with concern.

"I can explain when you get here. Can you hurry?" Veronica asked.

"Yeah, give me twenty minutes and I'll be there," he assured as they hung up. Archie dug through the pile of clean clothes on the top of the dryer and found something to wear, quickly hurrying it onto his body and heading out the door to meet Veronica.

He found her sitting in their usual booth, dark lips wrapped around a thin straw sucking milkshake from her cup.

"Hi, Archiekins," she said with a smile, leaning over the table for a kiss as he sat down across from her. She tasted of chocolate.

"What's wrong, you sounded upset on the phone," he asked her, settling into the booth and calming slightly as he took in her relaxed demeanour.

"It's my dad," she said with an eye roll. "I think I may have an idea of what he's plotting."

Before she could begin to explain, Archie's phone buzzed against the table from between them and Archie groaned as Betty's face popped onto his screen, directly under the time that read 6:15PM. In his haste to meet Veronica he had entirely forgotten that Betty was coming over.

"Sorry, Veronica," he said as he picked up the phone to answer it.

"Betty, I'm so sorry," he assured.

"Where are you?" she replied, concern lacing her voice.

"Veronica called, I came to meet her at Pop's. I totally forgot you were coming over, I'm so sorry."

"Oh," came her solitary response. She wanted to add her customary _"it's okay"_ to diffuse the awkwardness but found that she couldn't force the words to leave her mouth. Her reality was that it wasn't okay, and that in fact she had been really needing this meeting with Archie tonight.

"Wait for me," Archie replied when she didn't say anything else. "I'll be home by 7:30, I promise."

"Umm," she hesitated.

"Please, Betty. I'm sorry. 7:30, I swear. Will you wait?" He pled, guilt racking him with the disbelief that he had completely forgotten about his best friend.

"Uh, sure, Arch. I'll wait."

Archie noticed that she sounded less than sure. "7:30 I'll be there. See you then," then hung up the phone and turned his attention back to Veronica, who had a slight air of annoyance she couldn't hide crossing her face.

"Betty asked if she could come over tonight, I think she wants to talk about Jughead," he lied, knowing that the reminder of Betty's boyfriend would help Veronica remember that Betty was taken.

"It's okay," she answered, smiling. "So my dad…." and launched into the explanation of what she thought her father had been up to.

By the time Veronica finished her story and Archie looked at his phone, it was already 8:15. He apologized to Veronica for running out on her and literally ran the way back to his house, hating himself for bailing on Betty twice in one night.

As he arrived to his front lawn, breathless and sweaty, an uncomfortable sensation washed over him that he couldn't place, quickly realizing as he glanced up that the feeling was coming from a sight; that of his front door slightly ajar and a soft light from his front hall reaching out onto the porch.

He froze in terror, his mind reeling back to the night in Pop's when his dad got shot, then quickly to the baseball bat he kept in the closet in the front hall. Then to Betty, who was supposed to be waiting for him inside. It was this final thought that propelled him inside, creeping quietly up the stairs and peeking into the hall, noticing that nothing looked out of place.

A shadow moved from inside the kitchen and Archie paused, trembling. The shadow continued to quickly jump back and forth until its owner, Vegas, appeared at the doorframe and trotted lightly towards the front door, seeing Archie.

At Vegas' lack of alertness, Archie entered the house and quickly grabbed his bat, going from room to room throughout the house to check if anyone was there. It was in the living room that he found it: a slight disruption in the couch cushions that raised his hair on end. Two of them tossed on the living room floor, the rest askew across the back.

As he crept towards it another site appeared to him: a note, scribbled onto a scrap piece of paper from the living room and written in thick, black ink.

It read "she's mine".

Archie's heart stopped as the full realization of what that meant set in.

Betty was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

Panic seized him, cold and hard against his chest. He tried to quell it, his mind racing over any possibility other than the one that was facing him. No matter how many maybe's his mind conjured, there was always one thing they couldn't explain: the note.

Her face flashed before him, bright eyed and sincere, smiling over her shoulder at him as he walked behind her. Quickly replaced by an image of _him,_ soulless green eyes connecting over his bleeding father. The images merged, blending into one of Betty lying crumbled in a pool of blood on the floor of Pop Tate's, eyes open and blank, and the Black Hood menacing above her with a gun in his hand. He pushed the images from his mind.

Archie's hands trembled, fumbling in his pockets to find the familiar shape of his phone but he found that he couldn't see. The illuminated icons staring back at him had no sharp edges, just faint blurry lines that shifted and changed the more he tried to focus on them. Frustrated, he swiped to his calls and dialed the highest name on the list, pleading under his breath that she'd answer.

Betty's phone rang straight to voicemail.

Archie stared at the phone again, forcing his mind to focus as he bolted from the front door with the phone pressed against his ear, listening to the ring as he darted across their connecting lawns and knocked insistently on the Cooper's door, hanging up the phone as Jughead's call went to voicemail.

Deafening silence roared back at him. Pacing the length of the house, Archie pressed his face against the cold glass of their living room window, cupping his hands against his eyes to block out any light. Stillness was the only thing looking back at him.

From his palm the vibration of his phone caught his attention and he quickly raised it, heart falling when Jughead's name appeared on the screen.

"Is she with you?" Archie asked, full panic setting in.

"What? Is who with me?" Jughead answered, his voice full of confusion.

"Betty. Is Betty with you?"

"No, Archie. She told me she was meeting you. What the hell is going on?" Jughead's concern rose.

"I think you should come over, Jug. And hurry."

Jughead's breath came in short, sharp gasps as Archie recounted the story to him, fear and fury bubbling up inside him at an alarming rate.

"We need to call the sheriff," Jughead responded when Archie finished his story, removing his token beanie and running his fingers through his hair.

"We're not calling the sheriff," Archie countered instantly. "This is personal. I will find her myself."

"Yourself?" Jughead asked, incredulous. "This isn't about you, Archie! This psycho has my girlfriend. I don't care about this personal vendetta you've launched against this guy, I won't let you put her in any more danger than she's already in." His voice rose with his statement, loud and full of anger and fear.

"I know this guy, Jug. I know that he's playing with me! I can do this, I can get her back!" Archie roared back, stepping closer to his friend to intimidate his point.

"This isn't about you! It has nothing to do with you, actually. It's about Betty! I know it's hard to see outside this little Archie bubble you have going on," he stressed, circling his finger dramatically in the air around Archie's head, "but if you removed yourself for even a second and paid attention to your so-called best friend, then you probably would have known that not only has the Black Hood written Betty a letter, he's also been personally calling her!"

Archie frozen, breath caught in his chest. "He what?" he whispered, disbelief filling him. "When?"

"Last week," Jughead said with a sigh, walking to the couch and sinking dejectedly into it, resting the weight of his head against his palms. "It started with the cypher, he told her that she was the only one who could solve it since it was her speech at the town meeting that inspired all this. The calls started shortly after."

"She never told me," Archie sighed, sitting next to his friend.

"No offence, Archie, but you haven't exactly been there for her lately. I know you have Veronica and all, but this is Betty we're talking about."

Archie sighed, unable to find the words to express the guilt and disappointment he felt in himself. Though neither emotion came close to the gut-wrenching fear that still gripped him.

"We're calling the sheriff," Jughead repeated, tilting his head to make eye contact.

Archie nodded. "I know."

They waited in silence for him, anxiously tapping their feet against the floorboards, hands twisting in their laps, trying anything to calm the swell of fear and panic that gained momentum for every second Betty was missing. As the seconds on the wall clock ticked past, Archie could no longer stand the stillness of it and rose from the couch, tossing his phone onto the soft cushions in frustration behind him.

The vibrations sounded the moment it left his hand.

Archie and Jughead reached for the phone at the same time, Archie grabbing it a second before him and reading aloud the 'unknown caller' ID.

"Answer it," Jughead demanded, standing.

Eyes locked on Jughead, Archie answered the call and placed it on speakerphone. "Hello?"

The replying voice was distorted, filtered through an app that hid his identity. "I told you she was mine," it growled.

"I swear to god if you so much as touch her," Archie threatened, unable to contain his outburst.

Jughead grabbed the phone from his hand. "Where is she?" he demanded, hands trembling.

The voice laughed, a low, loud menacing sound from the back of his throat. "I promise I'm taking good care of her."

The line went dead.

Jughead and Archie froze, their eyes pinned to each other with terrified expressions, then jumped in unison as the sound of the front door opening and slamming shut reached their ears.

"Guys," she cried out, her voice an octave higher than normal.

Veronica rounded the corner, dressed in her black cape and carrying a coloured article that was distinctly not hers. "You need to see this."

As she rounded the corner it became clear that she had been crying. Streaks ran down her tanned cheeks, the runs a shade paler than her normal colour, black stain rimming the underside of her eyes.

"Someone left this for me at my front door," she said, holding out the pale pink article towards them.

Jughead grabbed it from her and recognized it instantly. It was Betty's sweater, he had seen her wearing it just a few days before.

"Turn it over," Veronica demanded.

Jughead flipped the sweater over in his heads. There, against the pale pink cotton of the soft cloth, was a blood stain so large it covered the entire front.


	3. Chapter 3

She was breathing water. Thick and heavy salted air weighed down her lungs in a wet sensation, soaking her senses and drowning out noise. She felt heavy, weighed down like her body would sink right through the floor. Her eyelids blinked rapidly, begging for the release of the spell of drugs that were swirling her in a haze of confusion and pain, but no relief came. She swallowed, her mouth stale and tongue thick, trying to rid the copper taste of blood. With every ounce of energy she had left, Betty pushed open her eyes and blinked into focus her surroundings, absorbing the dark space with faint light and vast openness.

She pushed herself sitting off the cool, concrete ground, mentally scanning over the injuries her body had sustained while she had been out. A sharp throb echoed against her right temple and she rose her fingers to it, gasping in pain as they came into contact with a soft, wet wound, still weeping. Guiding her fingers further down her face, she could feel the dried blood that had caked to her skin and tried to think back to how she had sustained the injury. Her memory was blank.

Betty tried to push herself standing, bracing her weight against the hard floor beneath her. She was too weak and collapsed back into a small, frail pile against the damp floor. Closing her eyes to steady the spinning room, Betty took deep breaths to calm herself, fighting off the rising panic and terror that was consuming her. As she opened her eyes again, a deluge of water poured over her from above, soaking her instantly and careening over her face faster than she could wash it away. The iciness of it made her breathless. Sputtering against the ceaseless stream, she opened her mouth to gasp air into her lungs but all she tasted was water. Her mind, desperate for breath, could only conjure one thought.

Drowning.

There was a stillness in the air, heavy and languid like smoke, hanging above their heads. They tried to ignore its heavy presence, the oppressive silence and bated breaths, but it was an invisible cleaver, ready to drop in an instant.

So he paced, his feet weaving worn circles into the carpet beneath him, round and round in dizzying circles until he couldn't tell up from down, left from right. It felt good to be busy, to be moving, to have anything to do other than sitting in silence and waiting.

The sheriff had left an hour ago with a hysterical Alice on his heels, Hal stoic at her side, the Black Hood's note sealed in a plastic bag and tucked into a subtle manila envelope, a starkly fitting tribute to the threatening note it held.

Jughead held his breath, hoping that the lack of air to his brain would trigger something, anything that could lead him to Betty. All he felt instead was fear.

"Maybe we should go to Pop's?" Veronica asked, her tone weary.

"To do what, Ronnie? Have milkshakes and talk about our day?" Archie snapped, his tone dripping with mockery.

She stood, towering over his position on the couch as he looked shamefully up at her through his eyelashes. "No, Archie." Her tone was sharp, hands planted on either of her hips. "To re-group. To get out of this house and think. To find Betty!"

Archie turned his eyes down from her, ashamed of his outburst but didn't apologize.

"Maybe she's right," Jughead said from his spot by the fireplace, staring into the depths of the empty and cold hearth. "We haven't thought of anything new since the sheriff left. I can't do nothing. We can walk to Pop's, look for any clues on our way there and at least make a plan. I can't…." His voice cracked, the remainder of his sentence hanging in the air like Betty's fate.

"I know, Jug," Archie reasoned, rising from the couch and walking to him. "Okay. Let's go to Pop's and we can make a game plan. Anything is better than sitting here doing nothing."

Veronica sidled up to him, snaking her arm through his and giving it a gentle squeeze of encouragement. "Lucky for us our B is tough," she reassured, nodding to herself. "She won't let anyone hurt her."

They walked briskly, bundled against the cold and bunched tightly together in fear, shoulders bumping against one another's. Eyes peeled for anything out of place. The walk was quiet, each running over their darkest fears inside their minds and trying to quell them with comforting thoughts to no success.

Pop's was a stark contrast. Brightly lit and full of warm and familiar sounds and smells, it provided a false sense of comfort and security, like a flashlight full of batteries that were about to die. They slid into the booth, Veronica pressed against Archie's side and Jughead left staring at the empty space beside him.

"Where should we start?" Jughead asked, twisting his fingers together on top of the formica tabletop.

"The letters and calls," Veronica answered instantly. "Betty never told Archie and I that the Black Hood was contacting her. You'll have to fill us in on those details."

Jughead shook his head, pressing his fingers against his closed eyes until all he saw was stars. "She only told me the other day," he conceded. "A week after it happened."

"Why?" Archie asked, his eyebrows knotting together.

"Betty was afraid."

"Of the Black Hood?" Veronica pressed.

Jughead shook his head. "No. Well yes," he backtracked. Raising his eyes to meet Archie's he said, "She was afraid you would blame her for your dad getting shot."

Archie recoiled, horrified that Betty would ever think that he would blame her for something like that. "Why…" he began, but stopped short as Pop approached their table.

"There you kids are," he said with a familiar smile. "I have something for you." From the depths of his apron he removed it, a thick, plain envelope scrawled across the front in black ink. "This was dropped off for you kids here a few hours ago. Told me to give it to you."

"Who told you to give this to us, Pop?" Archie asked, pulling the envelope away from his hands, desperately wanting to open it immediately but wanting privacy first.

"Never seen him before," Pop replied, habitually drying his hands on the cloth draped over arm. "Just came in and asked me to deliver this and left again."

"Thanks, Pops," Jughead said dismissively without looking up. He had eyes for only the envelope.

Pop's sauntered off towards the kitchen with a nod and a smile.

Archie slipped his finger into the loose opening at the mouth of the envelope and pulled, sliding his finger the length of the opening and tipping it upside down. A plain piece of white paper slipped out onto the table in front of them. The familiar black scrawl was staring back at them, its cryptic message installing dread inside them all.

'Only one of you can save her.'


	4. Chapter 4

Through the thin sheet of paper a second message stared back at them. Flipping it over, they tried to decipher the image. It was a map, crudely drawn with Pop Tate's at the centre and three more town landmarks in their appropriate areas. Leading to each location was a line, three different colours and snaking their way through the boroughs of the city.

The red line ended at the school.

The blue line ended at Sweetwater River.

The green line ended at the Town Hall.

Underneath, written in the same ominous black ink was a time: 12AM.

"Does this mean he's keeping Betty in one of these places?" Veronica asked, pulling the map from Archie's hands to get a closer look.

"Must be," Jughead said. "Looks like he wants each of us to take a path."

Archie shook his head. "We should stick together. What if this is a trap? I don't want you out there alone, Ronnie," he said, taking her hand in his.

"I don't think any of us should be out there alone, Archie, but what choice do we have?" Jughead asked, raising his phone to show them the time: 10:01PM.

"Your chivalry is graciously noted, Archiekins, but Jughead is right. We have less than two hours if what's written on this map is true. That's not enough time for us to check all three places together. We have to do it on our own. For Betty."

Archie sighed, knowing they were right but scared for his friends. "Take the school, Veronica. You can stick to the main roads and run to any of the houses if you run into trouble. I'll take Sweetwater River."

"Which leaves me with Town Hall," Jughead agreed with a nod.

"What do we do when we get there? There's no instructions." Veronica looked expectantly at the boys, trying to push down the fear that was slowly rising up the back of her throat.

"Look for her, I guess," Jughead offered unsurely. "We can call each other when we get there and stay on the phone, that way no one is out of contact."

Archie nodded. "Good idea."

Their silence hung in the air, each antsy to look for Betty but reluctant to leave the safety and security of each other's company.

"Who knows, maybe we'll be back here in a few hours with Betty, milkshakes as usual," Veronica said with false hope as they pushed themselves out of the booth and into the cool night air.

"Maybe," Archie replied quietly.

The stood in a small, tight circle, anxious eyes darting between them.

"Everyone stay safe, okay?" Jughead said with a swallow.

"Promise," Veronica said. "Nothing else bad will happen to us tonight." With a small smile and a quick kiss on Archie's cheek, she turned and left them.

The boys, with one last look at each other, turned and walked away as well.

Veronica, standing on the precipice of the school, dialed Archie as he was approaching the outskirts of the river.

"You made it there okay?" he asked her, concern sitting under his skin. "Nothing happened?"

"I'm okay, Archie," Veronica reassured. "I'm just scared for Betty."

"Me too," he said with a heavy sigh. "We're going to find her though, Ronnie. We won't let anything bad happen to her."

Veronica wished she shared her boyfriend's optimism.

"Hang on, Jug is calling me," Archie said as Veronica opened her mouth to reply. "I'm going to three-way him in."

The line beeped as Archie answered the other line, then clicked back into place as the calls merged.

"Everyone there?" Archie asked.

"I'm here," Veronica answered.

"Me too," said Jughead. "What now?"

"We look for Betty," Archie answered with more confidence than he felt. "But we stay on the phone. No one goes anywhere, agreed?"

"Agreed," came their answers.

They each approached their destinations slowly, eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary, hearts beating wildly in their chests. As she approached the doors to the school, Veronica quickly looked around to make sure no one was watching before trying the door, heart stilling as it clicked open under her hand.

"I'm inside, guys," she whispered into the phone, creeping quietly into the darkened halls.

"So am I," Jughead answered. "The door was unlocked."

"Same here," Veronica said. "He knows we're coming."

"I'm just walking the bank of the river, I don't really know what to look for," Archie said with uncertainty.

"Anything that looks out of place," Jughead answered.

"Hang on a sec," Veronica whispered into the phone. "I think I see something."

Slowly she crept through the halls, making sure to stay in the darkened areas where the emergency lighting didn't reach, hiding in the shadows. Up ahead, just outside one of the pools of light, was something wet.

"What is it?" Archie asked.

"I don't know yet," Veronica answered, heart hammering against her ribs. "I think…"

"Veronica?"

"I think its blood," she said, terror crippling her.

As Jughead and Archie began to answer her a static noise sounded from the phone and the line dropped, losing them all. Desperately they tried to call back but no calls were going through, the cell signal was jammed.

Horrified, the realization dawned on them that they were all completely on their own.

Archie sighed, he felt like he should have seen this coming. Nothing happened in Riverdale that the Black Hood didn't know about and pretending like he wasn't watching them now wasn't doing them any favours. While he may not have been able to predict which person went to which location, there was no doubt that he was still the one in control.

Half of him wanted to turn back and grab Veronica, find Jughead and have the three of them go look for Betty together. But a quick glance at his watch, 10:52PM, let him know that if there was any chance of finding Betty before midnight he had to continue his mission alone and hope that Veronica and Jughead were safe.

Archie took a deep breath and walked ahead.

Jughead stopped, glancing up and down the deserted halls and checking his phone once again. Still dead. He moved forward, peering into each dark and empty room as he passed. He stopped at the doorway to a room near the end, sensing rather than seeing a movement of some kind. He stepped in, eyes adjusting to the darkness and scanned the room, eyes locking on a fluttering curtain against the far window.

Cautiously, Jughead stepped towards it.

Veronica swallowed, inching towards the pool of liquid and realizing with both relief and horror that it was not blood. Too dark, too sticky and smelled faintly sweet. She had no idea what it was. She pushed on, stepping around it and turning left into the far wing, stopping at the sound of movement echoing from somewhere up ahead.

She froze in place, desperate to turn around and run for safety but pushed forward by the thought of Betty.

It was there, just up ahead, that he spotted her. Twenty feet away and lying against the ground, her blonde hair spread out around her like a fan, she lay with her eyes closed. He could see the wound, wide and dark against her temple as he ran towards her, dried blood matted into her hair and caked against the side of her face. It was as he approached that he saw it: a halo of blood spread around her head and in a pool for her to lay in.

He reached her at last, pulling her cold body towards the warmth of his chest and pressed his palm against her face, trying to stir the life into her.

"Betty," he cried, pressing his face against hers and feeling the transfer of her blood onto his skin. "Please, Betty," he pleaded, his tears mingling with her blood.

Her body, tightly wrapped within his arms, remained still. She was cold, her clothes soaking wet and skin damp. But he could feel the flutter of her heart against him, weak but hanging on.

Betty was alive.


	5. Chapter 5

He clung to her, nose pressed against the damp of her hair and hands tight against her body, rocking gently back and forth to stir her. Archie could feel her heart, a deep, slow thrum against his own chest, the only reassurance that she was alive to counter her otherwise still body. He could feel his own hands trembling from under her, the shaking traveling through her and back to him, quivering in cold and terror.

Removing a hand from beneath her body Archie grabbed his cellphone from his pocket, sighing in relief that where once there was no signal, he now had full bars. He placed a call to Jughead, hurriedly explaining that he had found her but that she wasn't in good shape, and that he should grab Reggie's car from his trailer and meet him at the mouth of the river.

He didn't know how long she had.

Placing his phone back in his pocket, Archie pulled Betty's limp body close to him and stood, tucking one of her arms over his shoulder and his other under her knees, cradling her to his chest as he navigated the dark forest path back to the road.

She smelled of the earth; damp leaves and copper blood.

Headlights beamed up ahead, gliding over the trees as the car descended the windy road to meet them, and casting elongated shadows over the thicket beneath them. He ran, Betty flush against his chest and tried to hold her still in case of injuring her further. As he rounded the final corner and into sight he could see them, the car drifting to a sharp stop as Veronica threw herself out of the passenger door and opened the door to the back seat for them.

Archie placed Betty against the back seat as gently as possible, climbing in after her and placing himself at her head, cradling it against his lap with his palms pressed to her face.

"Drive!" He commanded, more harsh than he intended.

"Archie," Veronica cried, sobs breaking her voice and tears streaming rivets down her cheeks as she took in the sight of her broken friend.

"She's going to be okay, Ronnie," Archie tried to reassure, reaching out to comfort her but stopping short as the car hit a bump and placing his hand back on the safety of stabilizing Betty.

"Talk to me," Jughead demanded. In the rear-view mirror Archie met his eyes, unable to keep them from her broken and quiet body.

Archie had to swallow the lump in his throat before he could speak, he knew what Jughead was asking for. "She has a head wound, it looks pretty bad; she's lost a lot of blood. And she's soaking wet like she was swimming or something. She's freezing."

"Here," Veronica said, removing her black cape from her shoulders and reaching back to drape it across Betty's body. Archie pulled it tight under her chin and tucked it around her, hoping the warmth would stir some life into her.

"We're almost there." The determination in Jughead's voice as he sped through the dark streets was the only thing keeping him from breaking down.

They slammed to a stop outside the emergency room doors, Veronica flinging open the car door and Archie pulling Betty back into his arms, the three yelling for help as they entered the quiet halls. She was removed from his arms in a hurry, placed against the stark white sheet of a gurney where the colour of her pale skin blended into the bed beneath her. A halo, blood red, spread out from her head and Archie, staring down at his arms realized that for the second time in a short period, he was wearing the blood of someone he loved.

Veronica's arms wrapped around him, sobbing into his torso. She flung out an arm and pulled Jughead to them, their heads pressed tight together as they all gasped in the events that had just taken place.

Time had no consequence. It drifted in waves like a passing train, loud and demanding at times, quiet and nonexistent at others. Jughead didn't know which he preferred. He could only see her face, bright eyes and smiling mouth, swimming before him like a dream just out of reach. He was aware of Veronica's hand tightly grasped within his own and he traced the line her arm made with his eyes, following it across her body to where her other hand held tight to Archie's.

At some point the Cooper's had arrived with Sheriff Keller and Kevin but their presence made no difference, had no impact on whether or not Betty would survive. Jughead only cared about Betty.

"We should do something," Veronica said as she stood for what felt like the first time in hours. Her legs were stiff.

"Do what, Ronnie?" Archie asked, running his messy hair through his fingers again.

"Anything," Veronica stated with conviction. "We can't just sit here."

"We're not leaving," Jughead and Archie answered back at the same time.

Veronica shook her head. "Of course not." Her voice was heavy with a sigh. "I just feel so helpless."

Archie reached out to her, pulling her back into the seat between him and Jughead and gently rubbed her back. "Me too," he stated. "But I think right now just being here for her is enough."

Through tears in her eyes, Veronica nodded in agreement.

As their defeated eyes sunk back down to their laps, a figure clad in white caught their attention on their peripherals and everyone's heads snapped up to look at him.

"I have an update on Betty Cooper if her family is here," announced the doctor.

Instantly they all stood and waited.


	6. Chapter 6

He couldn't keep his hands from her skin, soft and cool beneath his own as it laid against the starched sheets beneath her. If he concentrated enough he could feel the light thrum of her blood as it pushed through her veins, forcefully pulsing the life back into her. Even with the wound on her head bound tightly in gauze he could see the bruising, mottled and purple creeping out from underneath and stretching to the blue of her eyes, closed in sleep. Jughead bit down on his lip, closing his eyes to better picture the happy, healthy version of Betty he was so used to, the version he had so taken for granted until this moment.

He had almost forgotten they were in the room until their movement stirred him and his eyes snapped up to meet theirs, concern and worry darkening circles around their bright and tired eyes.

"You guys should head home," Jughead said. "I told the Cooper's I'd wait for them until they got back from bringing Betty some stuff from home."

Veronica nodded with a thick swallow. "We know that Betty is going to be okay without us here, but what about you, Jug? You don't want us to stay?"

He shook his head. "I appreciate the offer guys, but I'm alright. I just want to stay here until visiting hours are up."

"Okay," Veronica replied, squeezing Archie's hand in his silence. Gently letting go she crossed the threshold to Betty's bed and leaned down. "You did good, B. Rest up and we'll be back tomorrow." She pressed her dark tinted lips against her friend's pale cheek in a kiss, an outline of her lips stained against Betty's skin.

Archie, still silent as the adrenaline of the situation faded into quiet disbelief, followed suit and pressed the palm of his hand against Betty's pale face, his thumb gently stroking a line across her cheekbone, leaned towards her and pressed his lips to her forehead, closing his eyes and relishing in the comforting knowledge that the doctor had assured her full recovery.

"Call us if anything changes?" Archie asked as he stood, wrapping his arm around Veronica's waist.

"Of course," Jughead answered.

Their sad smiles served as the goodbye none of them wished to speak as they walked from the room and left him alone with Betty.

Jughead turned his eyes back to her, swallowing back the swell of emotion that rose with the sight of her tragic placement before him. It had been hours since the doctor had offered them promising hope by assuring that Betty would make a full recovery, and yet in those hours she had still remained stubbornly unconscious. They were only told that she would wake when she was ready.

He held her hand close to his body, wishing more than anything that her eyes would open and she would talk to him, but left with her silence and the thready beeping her of heart monitor instead. He tucked her cold hand back beneath her blankets and rested his tired head against the warmth of her leg, face turned up towards her as he felt the power of heavy sleep wash over him. Desperately wanting to be awake when Betty woke, Jughead fought the urge to sleep with everything he had. But ultimately sleep won over and he drifted off uneasily beside her.

Jughead woke to a sensation, familiar yet foreign in its placement, one of light fingers and soft skin around his temple and hair, the shift in his hat askew on his head. He blinked his eyes open, offended by the bright whiteness that greeted him until a welcome sight took hold.

She was running her fingers through his hair, brushing the stray stands away from his tired eyes as he blinked her into focus, her pale face a welcome sight to his worried eyes. Relishing in the sensation of her against him, Jughead closed his eyes in a relieved sigh and raised his hand to hers.

"You looked so peaceful, I didn't want to wake you." Her voice was horse.

He released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, like she was the air to his drowned lungs. Jughead raised his head from the bed to better see her, clutching her warm hand in his and relishing in the sight of her vibrant eyes open and blinking him in.

"God am I happy to see you," he replied with a relieved laugh, lighter without the worry of her like lead in his bones.

Betty's lips turned up in a smile but her breath hitched and tears sprang to her eyes, spilling down the planes of her cheeks as she burst out crying. The rush of emotion took them both by surprise and Jughead stood to his feet.

"Hey, hey," he whispered comfortingly, stroking away the tears from her cheeks as she sobbed into his palms. "It's okay, it's all over now. You're safe."

"Jug," she wept, "I thought…." The remainder of her sentence died on her lips.

"I know, Betty. I know. I'm so sorry." He was at a loss, consumed by guilt and anger and tormented by her anguish. He placed his forehead against hers as she clutched onto his forearms, matching her breathing in rhythm to his, steadying herself with his closeness.

"Stay with me."

He nodded, unable to deny her simple request and glanced down to the small spot she had made by shifting her body to one side of bed. Gently moving the wires and tubes that sprouted from her body, Jughead climbed beneath the covers beside her, looping an arm beneath her neck and pulling her close to him.

Betty rested against him, her eyes drawn down by the rush of safety and comfort he brought her, but fought the urge to sleep and tilted her face up to him. Hundreds of thoughts whirled through her head of the things she wanted, needed, to tell him. But the powerful scent of his cologne and of him washed over her like a sedative until nothing remained but a blissful state of calm, all terrors and fears of her last few hours pushed far back and away.

"I thought we lost you," he whispered, his lips pressed against her forehead.

She tightened her grip on the cloth of his shirt held tight in her fist as a response. She thought she had been lost, too.

"I thought…" he continued.

"I know, Jug." She couldn't let him continue, let him voice their fears and worries aloud without breaking into the state of peace she had finally reached. The time would come to deal with it, to not hold back and say all the things they promised themselves they would say if they were given just one more chance. But that time was not now.

A soft knock sounded from the door and it swung open before they could reply. The nurse cast a disapproving face in their direction as the sight of their bodies entwined on Betty's small bed reached her eyes and she opened her mouth to protest, but closed it again with a tired sigh and a shake of her head.

"Your parents will be back in about half an hour, missy," she tutted, shaking her finger in their direction. "Separate by then and no one will be any wiser," she finished with a wink.

Jughead and Betty smiled gratefully back up at her.

"What do you want me to do with the note, honey?" The nurse asked as she busied herself setting Betty's personal effects in the corner of the room.

"Note?" Betty asked, lifting her head from Jughead's chest to better see.

"Yeah, the note," she replied as she pulled a damp, sealed envelope from the bag.

"We'll take it," Jughead replied for her, reaching outwards to take it from her outstretched hand.

"Half an hour, kids. Or you'll be facing the wrath of Alice Cooper," she warned lightly, smiling gently in their direction and backing out of the room, pulling the door shut behind her.

"Do you know what this is?" Jughead asked, holding the blank envelope out for Betty to see."

"I've never seen that before," Betty answered, her voice shaking around the words.

Slipping his arm across their bodies, Jughead gently tore the envelope open and tipped the paper inside out onto the blankets. He unfolded its careful creases took in the familiar sharp blank ink and was instantly filled with dread.

It read: "Welcome to the beginning."


End file.
